Michael Jackson will finally be laid to rest

by Cheryl Devall

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More than two months after his death, pop superstar Michael Jackson will go to his final resting place. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says a last private funeral is scheduled for 7 o'clock Thursday night at Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale.

Criminal investigations, autopsies, family and security considerations have all delayed Michael Jackson’s placement in a crypt at Forest Lawn. The streets around the famous cemetery are blocked to public access in an attempt to maintain his family’s privacy.

The child performer who grew up to dominate pop music and later the tabloid headlines died, apparently from a lethal mix of sedatives, as he was preparing a series of 50 comeback concerts in London. He would have turned 51 last week.

Death has boosted Michael Jackson’s earnings. Downloads and CDs of his music are back on the pop charts. His 1988 autobiography Moonwalk will be re-issued in October. A film based on footage of rehearsals for the London concerts will open for a limited (and probably lucrative) run next month. And Jackson’s family agreed this week to pay the costs of the lavish Staples Center funeral service from his once-overdrawn estate.